Free admission when Toronto's AGO reopens Nov. 14

The Art Gallery of Ontario, closed since October for a redesign by celebrity architect Frank Gehry, will reopen to the public Nov. 14 with three days of free admission.

Canadian favourites such as paintings by the Group of Seven, Michael Snow and Tom Thomson, and a special exhibit by Canadian photographer Ed Burtynsky, will be on view opening day.

Stem cells offer hope for deafness

New research with stem cells suggests promising results for people who are deaf.

Deaf people could one day have their hearing restored through a groundbreaking gene therapy technique, a new study suggests.

The transfer of a specific gene is shown today by a milestone experiment to trigger the growth of new hair cells in the inner ear - the usually irreplaceable sensory cells that pick up sound vibrations and that are lost as a result of ageing, disease, certain drugs, and by excessive exposure to loud sound.

Cats secretly growing wings

We all know that cats are often smarter than they appear, but could it be that they are evolving into flying creatures?
If Sylvester had a pair of wings like this, Tweety might not have been so uncatchable.
At the bottom of the linked blogpost, there is a link to more pictures and an explanation.

Is this what Michael Jackson should really look like?

Michael Jackson is turning 50 years old this year, and continues with his hiatus from fame to hide from controversy about children and plastic surgery. The author of this story has generated an age-enhanced photo of Michael based on earlier photos which suggests what Michael might have looked like if he hadn't meddled with his face.

Was it Agatha Christie whodunnit?

Agatha Christie started writing detective stories to show up her sister, Madge. Since then, Christie has become one of the most popular detective science fiction writers of all time, selling over 2 billion copies of her books in 104 languages.

Still, one of the most sensational and mysterious events in her life was her own 11-day disappearance in December 1926. Although her defenders believe Agatha was suffering from some kind of amnesia, all available evidence suggest that she used her expertise as a mystery writer to set her husband as the prime suspect in a murder case - with herself as the supposed victim.

The shoes that got away

I bet these little numbers are really popular on the East Coast. Anywhere else they might look a bit out of plaice [ pun intended! ]

... and here is the Evening Wear version from Giuseppe Zanotti: Crystal Fishbone Sandal

Now you see it, now you don't

Liu Bolin is a young Beijing-based artist who has exhibited primarily in China until last year’s solo show at Paris’ Galerie bertin toublanc and a group show with the gallery in Miami. he recently finished up a show at Eli Klein Fine Art in New York showcasing a variety of his pieces including some form the series ‘camoflague’. this series is an exploration of human nature and animal instincts which features Chinese citizens painted to blend into their surroundings. the subjects are covered head to toe in paint,
camouflaging themselves in front of the Chinese flag, a billboard or downtown Beijing.